Khandwa (MP): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday explained before the state BJP executive, the circumstances under which he had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the use of surplus coal by the Reliance Power Ltd (RPL).

Chouhan explained his government’s stand on the matter when the state BJP executive executive discussed its political resolution that was adopted by the party after a discussion, the state BJP general secretary and Jabalpur MP, Rakesh Singh told reporters.

The Chief Minister highlighted the MoU's conditions under which he wrote to the Prime Minister requesting him to allow use of surplus coal at RPL’s 4000 MW power plant coming up at Chitrangi in Sidhi district.

The coal blocks were originally allocated for Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) also in Sidhi district of the state.

Chouhan said that he wrote the letter as use of excess coal would also avoid delays in coal supply arrangement for the project at Chitrangi tehsil and facilitate its early commissioning.

Referring to the alleged coal scam, the state BJP executive highlighted that a Maharashtra BJP MP Hansraj Ahir in its letter to the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) stated that if the Centre could had followed the Madhya Pradesh government's transparent policy in the allocation of coal blocks, then the government could have saved Rs 60,000 crore.

The state BJP executive also criticised the Congress for its pseudo-secular policies and handling of Assam crisis, demanding that all illegal migrants from Bangladesh settled in the north-eastern state should be sent back to their parent country. (Agencies)